"I've always just had their mocha when I buy it there. We'll have to go look and see next time we stop by."

"Are you ever going to marry Mel?" Shelley asked.

Jane gawked at her. "Surprisingly, I've been thinking a lot about it. You know he tried to give me an engagement ring that awful Christmas that his furnace died, and he and his dreadful mother, Addie, stayed here. I said I'd keep it for later. But he decided I might lose it and he took it back and put it in his bank lockbox."

"Do you suppose he still has it? After all, you and he have had a very long, happy relationship and now that you're going to have only one child at home most of the time, you should consider it."

"Do I have to propose to him?" Jane asked with a glint in her eye.

"Why not? You're an independent woman. Not a wimp. The worst that could happen is that he'd turn down the offer. And you know he wouldn't."

"I'm fairly sure you're right. I'd like for him to live with me in this house. It would mean giving up several closets and cleaning out the other half of the garage for his precious MG."

"When did you become so practical?" Shelley asked. "All these years hanging out with you," Jane replied.

"You're the most sensible, practical woman I know. Except for your give-'em-hell driving habits."

"You'll note, I hope, that I've never been in an accident," Shelley claimed.

"But other people you terrified have ended up in ditches, I'd bet."

"I never look back," Shelley said proudly.

Jane was quiet for a few minutes and then said, "I'm going to have to plan my proposal to Mel. I don't think, `You wanna get married, big guy?' is quite appropriate."

"Ask first if he kept the ring he tried to give you. Would that be a way to start a proposal?"

"Good idea. Thanks."